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17
Nooooooo!”
Taylor and Samiah’s matching mortified shrieks made London feel marginally better about her own reaction to the situation with Nina.
“Unfortunately, yes,” she told them as she angled her computer monitor down a bit. The glare from her office’s fluorescent light made it look as if Taylor had a glowing sword growing out of her forehead.
“Do either of you want to trade places with me this weekend?” London asked. “I promised my stepmom I would talk to Nina on Saturday, and I’m afraid I won’t be as magnanimous or calm as I probably should be in this situation.”
“You couldn’t pay me to trade places with you,” Samiah said. “But try not to be too hard on her.” She held up a hand. “I’m not saying you shouldn’t put the fear of God in her, but remember how it is to be fourteen and seeking attention from a boy you like.”
“Don’t even get me started,” Taylor said. “We would be here all day if I had to list all the regrets of fourteen-year-old Taylor. Your little sister is still too young to grasp just how close she came to getting herself into a shitload of trouble with those pics.”
“I know,” London said with a sigh. “Drew said the same thing. But it’s—”
“Drew?” Taylor and Samiah both exclaimed.
“So, you’ve already talked to Drew about this?” Samiah asked.
“I—” London started, then stopped.
It suddenly occurred to her how odd it was that she had gone to Drew first instead of Taylor and Samiah. For the past six months, ever since she’d met them, she had immediately called on these two whenever she needed to talk through something.
“Huh.” Taylor sucked her teeth. “See what happens when you start getting some dick? You just toss your friends aside like yesterday’s trash.”
“Oh, shut up,” London said with a laugh.
Samiah shrugged. “Hey, I can’t say I blame you. He’s giving you something that neither of us can.”
“Um, hello!” London waved at the computer’s camera. “Remember who you’re talking to here. I am not replacing my friends with a man—especially one who is temporary. Once the Orgasm Train pulls out of the station, I will be right back to blowing up both your phones and begging you to join me for margaritas.”
“Oh, speaking of, I have to miss the two Friday get-togethers,” Samiah said. “Trendsetters has a gala this Friday and I’m flying up to Philly to meet Daniel’s parents next Friday.”
“Whoa, that’s huge,” Taylor said.
“Why is it a big deal? Jamar has met your parents,” Samiah pointed out.
“Yeah, but we were just pretending to date at the time,” Taylor said. She scrunched up the side of her mouth. “Well, we weresortapretend dating. The sex we had in the guest room at my parents’ house was very,veryreal.”
“See, two weeks ago, I would have been pissed at you for bragging about that,” London said. “Now?” She hunched her shoulders. “Doesn’t even bother me.”
“You have been a lot calmer now that you’re getting some,” Taylor agreed. “But, look, even if Samiah can’t be there, do you want to still get together? Actually, I’m not asking, I’m straight up saying that Ineedto see you, London. This stupid math class is kicking my ass and your brain is the only thing that will help me get through it.”
“Absolutely!” London said.
“I just remembered that I promised Jamar I’d come to this thing at the high school where he’ll be coaching this coming Friday, but does next Friday work?”
“Sure. Come over to my house. We’ll order in some Thai and I can take a look at your assignments.”
“You’re a bit too excited about doing her math homework, and I find that very disturbing,” Samiah said.
“Nobody asked you.” Taylor stuck her tongue out. “I need to get out of here. My creative writing class starts in like twenty minutes, and huge surprise here, but I actuallylikethis one.”
“Really?” London asked. “So the coping techniques you’ve been using for your learning disorder have been helpful?”
“Seems that way,” Taylor said. “It also helps that I’m writing manga, which I love. And that my story is totally kick-ass. I’m thinking I just may become a famous writer in my spare time.”
“This coming from someone who hated the thought of anything to do with school just a couple of months ago,” Samiah said.
